The Lima Group of countries which includes Guyana yesterday expressed concern at the use of force by the Venezuelan government to prevent deputies of the National Assembly from freely accessing a session for the election of the Head of the Assembly.
Reuters reported that Venezuela’s parliament yesterday swore in legislator Luis Parra as its new leader after government security forces blocked opposition leader Juan Guaido from entering parliament, in what Guaido’s allies called a “parliamentary coup.”
Reuters said that Opposition leaders had expected to re-elect Guaido, recognized by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, to a second term as chief of the legislature to continue pushing for the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement issued yesterday by the Government of Canada, the Lima Group said:
“The governments of Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Venezuela – members of the Lima Group, condemn the use of force by the dictatorial regime of Nicolas Maduro to prevent the deputies of the National Assembly from freely accessing the session, convened for today, January 5, to democratically elect their Governing Board.
“The National Assembly has the constitutional right to meet without intimidation or interference in order to elect its President and Governing Board, and therefore we do not recognize the result of an election that violates those rights and which has taken place without the full participation of the deputies who attended the session.
“The Lima Group follows with great concern the events taking place in Venezuela and calls on the international community to work together in support of the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in the country”.
The Lima Group was established August 8th 2017 in the Peruvian capital of Lima where representatives of 12 countries met in order to establish a peaceful end to the crisis in Venezuela.
